Gertrude Mertens
Gertrude Van Ooje-Mertens is the Nutbros' maternal grandmother. She is rather paranoid, tetchy and easily rattled, but tries to be a great grandmother for her grandchildren, since she also substitutes her husband's role. History Gertrude is one of the several daughters of an American general and Danish housewife. She spent her childhood in England, where she usually bought phonograph records with her favorite artists' music. In her early adulthood, Gertrude got the chance to fly to America to fulfill her lifelong dream: open her own candy store. She met Harry after they bumped into one another on their college's hallway. They became friends and stayed this way for several months, but they started developing mutual crushes on each other and started expressing their love publicly. Once they graduated from college, the two married and had three children in the span of around five years: Allison, Tabitha and Brian. Gertrude never actually approved of Harry's job. While she agreed with him on the subject of the legitimacy of the supernatural for the most part, she couldn't see the appeal of risking his, his friends', her and their children's lives just to prove creatures that are unlikely to exist do so. She even got injured during a demon-catching mission, and she forbid her kids to go with their father in their missions anymore. Upon finding out Harry would make a deal with Lenny and sacrifice himself for "the third triplet of the third pregnancy of his daughter" in order to reunite with his sister Leticia (who also fell victim to his twisted promises), Gertrude begged him to refuse, telling him that trusting an infamous demon wasn't worth it and would do more harm than good. Her pleas, however, fell on deaf ears, as he was sure Lenny would keep his word. Gertrude couldn't take the idea of her beloved husband to sacrifice himself well, and, while he was taking part in another of his missions, tried to kill herself by swallowing one of the poisons Harry used for evil creatures. Allison came just in time and saved her before she went along with her suicide attempt. She let her mother stay in her apartament for several days until Harry came back. Gertrude never told him about the incident, so he won't get concerned about it. Shortly after she got married, Allison finally got the courage to tell her mother she was pregnant, but ommited telling her about her previous miscarriage. Gertrude flied to New York without Harry's company to witness Reggie's birth, so she won't have to see Harry dying in front of them. When Allison was about to bring another baby into the world, the same thing happened. But when she was about to have the triplets, Harry suggested they should go to San Diego together instead of her going first there. She almost declined, but she knew that in fact he felt he was slowly transcending, so she ultimately accepted. After Harry's "death" and the birth of the triplets, Gertrude spiraled into a deep depression and once again, Allison let her stay with her, Barney and the kids. When Cobby was still intubated and requiring mechanical ventilation in the NICU section of the hospital, she was almost determined to disconnect the ventilator, thinking that this way the baby will die and Harry would come back. But she looked well in his eyes before attempting to kill him, and she saw the same innocence and sheer intelligence his grandfather had. She didn't plug off the machine anymore, and started weeping tremulously as she realized she had to let Cobby live - that was the only way she could get Harry back. Gertrude was happy to be a grandmother. She always fulfills her grandchildren's wishes and helps them whenever they need her. Even though they don't to meet a lot, she tries to make every single gathering an unforgettable experience. Appearance Gertrude is a head shorter than Harry and slightly plump. She has long straight gray (formerly dark russet) hair with straight bangs. Her fur is more accurate to a Cocker Spaniel's pattern than most of the other canine characters. Her left eye is half blind and constantly tearing up as a result of one of Harry's almost failed mission to catch a spider demon made of methanol. Her current attire consists of a crimson vest over a cream shirt, a long crimson dress, a purple-red ribbon around her waist and a pair of pale pink slippers (usually hidden by the dress). Personality Gertrude is a naive, fun-loving, caring but paranoid and sensitive elderly woman. She cares deeply about her family even though they don't get to meet more. She used to be more calm and carefree but Harry's deal with Lenny took a tool on her and almost killed her. She has a sweet tooth, this being the reason why she opened a candy store. She also loves making sweets for others, especially her family. Gertrude seems to be somehow counter-culture and not-so-ahead of her time, as she still uses floppy disks in a time period when they are obsolete. Trivia *Gertrude used to be a little plump when younger. *She lives in her parent's old home in Copenhagen after she sold her house in America. Category:Gumbaverse Category:Female Category:Nuttels Family Category:Dogs Category:Characters Category:Characters that did not appear in the original series. Category:Characters with multiple appearances